Cracks
by Speisla Cartoon Cartoon
Summary: Three hundred years ago, the twins almost destroyed the planet Krypton. Thirty-five years before the end of the world, Astra and Alura In-Ze were born. Immediately, the little twins cause general panic. Over the years, Alura and Astra must survive in a world that is afraid of them, and discover why the twins are regarded so dangerous.
1. The Perfect Heir

Thirty-five years before the explosion of the planet, the In-Ze house decided it was time to have a daughter.

The decision came to the couple as a great opportunity to regain some of the prestige that flaunted generations ago. The head of the House El had her second child, Zor-El, and he being so fond of In-Ze, he expressed the desire to unite their houses. In-Ze was the best general who had seen the planet in twenty years. Although modest, he and his wife Dur In-Ze considered themselves happy.

It was time to have a daughter who could perpetuate their names, and who could make great the House Ze again.

In-Ze and his wife left that morning Codex. At the top, the red sun shone mockingly. That morning they had chosen the physical characteristics of their future daughter: wavy brown hair, like Dur; long face, as the mother of In; slender body, toned muscles ... Now there were only the months of waiting.

-I have been thinking -Dur In-Ze said. -I think I want call her Alura.

-Alura ... How that ancient goddess of...?

-Goddess of Daylight, In. Alura In-Ze. I like how it sounds.

-Definitely that name sounds great. If you want, Alura would be.

* * *

 _Except it was not Alura._

 _Or at least, not only Alura._

* * *

The kryptonian society felt fiercely proud to have achieved genetic perfection. Through the creation of the Codex, they had eliminated all problems in the population: For three hundred years, women needed not carry their children in her womb. Had been eliminated genetic defects, and the sex and physical characteristics were the choice of their parents.

And the twins had been removed.

Thanks to Rao, the twins had been removed.

Because the twins had almost destroyed Krypton three hundred years ago.

So when the In-Ze discovered that it was not gestating only one baby, they were totally incredulous.

And then they panicked. A lot.


	2. Goddess of Daylight & Nightly Warrior

The news exploded before they could think about doing something.

For a long time, nobody could think of anything else. At the end of the day, it was almost absurd that the power of The Codex was questioned by the mere existence of a second baby. It was impossible. The Codex was perfect. The Codex never failed.

Until The Codex failed.

In-Ze and his wife did not stop being hounded with questions. What did you do? It was on purpose? _How you did it?_

But the plain fact was that nobody had any idea. And the kryptonian hated having no idea what was happening.

Dur In-Ze had never thought that Rao could be that prankster. Twins. After three hundred years of peace. _To her._

It was too much to process.

Therefore, unable to process it, she began to think that if she ignored the problem, it would eventually disappear.

She did not want two babies. Only Alura.

* * *

In-Ze had fully devoted to the army, where he was moderately safe from prying questions. Finally, with weeks, people had stopped asking at all.

Although not mean they were quieter.

In-Ze had devoted much more to missions outside the planet. He no longer want to spend as much time with his wife. And he did not know exactly what to think about his daughter... daughters.

* * *

They would rather have been alone when they were born. Unfortunately, two months after it exploded the news that In-Ze was expecting _twins_ , privacy was not exactly easy to obtain.

Thanks to Sygn Jor-El, the birth of their daughters had not become a public event. However, the friend of In-Ze could not prevent the two eldest members of the consul were present. And with them, three healers with an air of anxious.

Dur In-Ze watched the matrix, the artificial womb that had begun to shrink. She could imagine both babies inside, uncomfortable about sharing a space designed for just one. She could imagine that Alura was eager for a larger space.

The matrix slowly opened.

Barely her head was out, the first baby began to mourn, with powerful screams ricocheted around the Codex's room. Once her right hand was out, she began waving her little fist in the air. One of the sealers came to her, nervous, and drew a red circle in her hand, to differentiate later that that baby was born first.

 _"She is afraid"_ In-Ze thought seeing her little face. _"Why she is so afraid?"._

The second baby was not born crying as her twin. But she moved much more. She was born with the hand holding the ankle of the first baby. One of the healers tried to make the second baby drop the ankle of the first, but the Chief Healer stopped him.

And so both babies came to Krypton.

The first baby cried incessantly, twisting her small face a penalty endless. The Chief Healer looked to In-Ze, asking for permission to review his daughters. In-Ze nodded.

The man drew a blue circle in the hand of the second baby, who keeps moving. His aides tried to calm the first baby, rocking her gently. But she would not stop mourn, and with the second baby squirming it was not possible revision.

The name of the Chief Healer was Xa-Du, promising scientist and one of the best connoisseurs of the history of the planet. He had spent his youth studying fascinated the various wars of Krypton before it became the peace of Rao and the Codex. Including the most infamous war that nearly ended the planet. The war of the twins.

So he was there as a specialist. And it did not take long to discover what was wrong with the girls.

 _"Let's see if it's true..."_

Xa-Du took the first baby from the arms of his colleague, and approached the second baby, who kept kicking. Carefully, he placed the first baby next to the second, as close as possible.

The cry and tantrums stopped instantly.

In-Ze and his wife had seen it all with mixed feelings; It was at that moment when they went to watch their daughters. Sygn Jor-El also approached. At the end of the day, one of the two was her future daughter in law. He did not feel particularly afraid as the rest of the world.

He even smiled when he looked at the babies.

They were smaller than his children at birth. They huddled against each other, moving their little feet in the air. They were like two drops of water, only differentiated by the circles in their hands.

And then they opened their eyes.

Rarely in his life he saw something as wonderful as what happened next. The first born put her cloud blue eyes on her twin, and her little face broke into a smile. The other girl returned the gesture to the first, extending a small hand to her.

Sygn Jor-El smiled. He had always believed in love at first sight.

Xa-Du was fascinated and worried.

The In-Ze twins smiled themselves for the first time.

* * *

In-Ze and Dur In-Ze took their daughters to home. That same night, after a quiet dinner on the floating emotional exhaustion, they sat silently looking at them.

The two girls had just eaten. They watched happily to each other, and sometimes to their parents. But their interest was mainly put on themselves.

The first born had begun to move, kicking in the air, uncomfortable with her new red shoes. The other looked at her smiling, amused by the movements of her twin.

After five minutes of silence, Dur In-Ze took the little hand of the second baby, the one with blue shoes.

-This will be Alura. The other is too restless.

-She is a baby, it is normal that she is restless.

-You are not understanding, In-Ze. A mother recognizes her children. And this baby here is the one you and I created together: Alura In-Ze. However, I get no recognize the other.

-I do not like what you are saying. Perhaps we not plan this, but Rao does nothing without purpose. We have two daughters, Dur ... better get used to the idea.

-How can you get used to the idea of this ... this ... error? - muttered Dur In-Ze. -We just needed a daughter. And instead ... we had twins, by Rao! It is as if we had no daughter at all. I do not know ... I do not know if I can bear the shame.

In-Ze did not dare to answer, because he knew there was some truth in the words of his wife.

-I will go to my rooms, In-Ze ... I will do the best I can, that's all I can promise.

In-Ze was left alone in the dark, dimly lit by artificial light. The two babies watched their father now, not understanding why her mother was so upset.

Soon, Alura decided that her father was not so interesting, and fell asleep, holding the arm of her twin. But the other baby still watched In-Ze with curious, small and blue haze eyes.

In-Ze tentatively reached out to touch the first born, without waiting that the baby will hold his thumb with unexpected force, shaking his finger.

That made In-Ze remembered a story that his mother had told him when he was a child. A story about a nightly warrior, before the era of Rao. The warrior could only go out at night, because she had refused to enjoy the sunshine until her enemies would been defeated. An ancient goddess, In-Ze could not remember who, had given to the warrior a force of a hundred men, along with a new name: Astra, the warrior of the night.

In-Ze had always enjoyed the stories about the adventures of Astra. They made him remember his mother.

-And you still need a name ... Astra In-Ze ... I think it sounds good.


End file.
